Traversing the Aegean Sea

by - 10/08/2015

The best part about travelling to the islands is the island hopping (at least for me). Its not that I love cruising on ships...in fact I am very scared of sea sickness. I usually don't suffer from any but what if? The entire trip would be spoilt! But there are certain things that come with ships which cannot be fulfilled by planes! I find air travel boring..the same sky, the same clouds! Maybe for people who hate ships would say the same sea! But at least  vessels provide a lot of space to move around! You can do whatever you want and chat with endless amount of people!

The picturesque Naxos Island in the backdrop


In this trip we had planned to go on two islands from Athens...Paros and Santorini. WE could have easily opted for domestic flights but we took the Blue Star Ferries instead. I wanted to stare at the Aegean Sea for endless hours and the cruise on Blue Star Ferries turned out to be one of the most beautiful memories of our trip! The first time we were to board the ship, we were late (as usual). We hurriedly checked out from our hotel in Athens and started running towards the bus stop. It was early morning and as fate would have it, we got into the wrong bus. Thankfully we got down at the next stop and started running from there...again. The concern was that we had the online tickets which needed to be exchanged for the real ones. Hubs was furious. Somehow all the blame for delay invariably lands up on me no matter whose fault its is. Anyways I am so used to all this by now.

The huge Blue Star Ferries vessel

The port was an enormous chaotic mess. Everyone was scurrying in different directions with tonnes of luggage. There were so many cruise lines...we needed to go to the Blue Star Ferries office. I spotted a huge vessel from a distance. Hubs first thought that it was the office ( given the gigantic structure of it). Later as we approached, we realised that it was our vessel to the paradise! Our ferry was at 7 25 AM and we got the tickets about 10 minutes before. When we approached to enter the ship, I was shocked! The queue to the gate was HUGE! It was clearly written that if anyone misses the ferry, the tickets are invalid! Phew! it was such a narrow escape! Somehow the enormous crowd slipped into the ship (including us) and the ferry started exactly at 7 25! Such pin point punctuality is indeed shocking for us Indians he he :D
All ready to board...


The cabins were beautiful even as it was the economy section. Our neighbour was a crazy girl who took endless number of pictures with my husband. :D We ate, drank, stared at the deep blue Aegean Sea with the huge window. We were on the sixth floor of the ship and still waves splashed across the windows! Its one experience I would never forget!

I could stare at this view forever...

The vessel was huge. It had a capacity of about about 7000 passengers and 1000 vehicles. It was my first time that I had been in such a ship. There were about ten floors; bustling with happy chirpy people. It seemed like a party. People were eating, drinking, playing cards, playing guitars...making every kind of merry. THis ship carried passengers bound towards three destinations...first Paros (where we were bound) then Naxos and finally Santorini. We took this very same ship from Paros the next day to Santorini. WE reached Paros at about half past eleven in the morning.

The nautical Greek flag...

While disemabarking at Paros Island...all the passengers are bidding goodbye. When the ship stopped at Naxos the next day, we were the ones to bid goodbye!

Elated after reaching Paros Island...

While leaving Paros, the same thing happened; ie we got late. After hubs dropped off his bike, we started running from our apartment. The serene blue Aegean Sea was on one side and the white washed houses on other side of the road and we were dragging our luggages in between. I tried to make a vlog of the beautiful surroundings but could not. After running for about 10 minutes, we reached the port. The motive behind taking a hotel so near to the port proved useful both in Athens and Paros. Thankfully we boarded the ship on time and bade goodbye to Paros!

After an hour our ship stopped at Naxos Island. An enormous group of people disembarked at Naxos and even a bigger crowd accumulated at the balconies and terraces (including us) to bid them goodbye! It was such a festive atmosphere! The wind was crazily chilly (at the middle of the day with the sun shining in full glory) and everyone except us were wearing knits. In Delhi the weather is pretty well defined...if its summer, there is no way the wind would be chilly leave the fact that there could be any need to wear sweaters! If its winters, then heavy woolens are must! I braved the cold winds for sometime and then urged hubs to go inside (who was loving the chill). We reached dreamland Santorini at around half past three. A series of adventures was about to begin!

At the entry of our cabin...






Foral Dress: Shoppers Stop
Polka Dot Dress: Globus
Sunnies: Aldo
Bag: Furla Candy






























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5 comments

  1. Awesome trip and great images doll.

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  2. wow! beautiful photos! missing the sea! great post!

    would you like to follow each other? Let me know.

    Keep in touch!
    http://chasingculprit.blogspot.com

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  3. Greece is stunning.
    a great visit indeed..

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  4. Happy Monday Mandira! Haha you made me laugh. Pinpoint punctuality shocks you :D The Germans are famous for always being on time but the truth is almost every public transportation is delayed. Looks like the Greek are doing a better job :D You look adorable as always. Love both dresses <3

    xx

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  5. The Naxos island backdrop looks gorgeous.
    n i cant wait for the Santorini posts.

    Aditi
    www.sosaree.in

    ReplyDelete